Factors Affecting Population Assessments of Desert Tortoises
Freilich JE, Burnham KP, Collins CM, Garry CA. 2000. Factors Affecting Population Assessments of Desert Tortoises. Conservation Biology. 14(5):1479-1489
Over six consecutive years in Joshua Tree National Park, the authors obtained population density estimates, distance traveled from burrows, and captures of desert tortoises. The most striking observation is that the number of tortoises observed and captured differs substantially between wet and dry years. In dry years, home ranges decreased, captures decreased, and the time and effort to find tortoises increases. They suggest that tortoises are likely to be undercounted during dry seasons, so past surveys should be revisited.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Freilich, Jerome; Burnham, Kenneth; Collins, Christopher; Garry, C.
- Units
- JOTR , MOJA
- Keywords
- Absence (Biodiversity), Abundance (Biodiversity), Barrow site, Burrows, Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), Distribution (Biodiversity), Endangered Species, environmental factor, Home Range, Joshua Tree National Park, Mammals (Mammalia), Mojave Desert, Mojave populations, Mortality, Observations, Population Density, Population Trends, Presence (Biodiversity), radiotagged, radiotracking, Reptiles (Reptilia), survival estimation, Taxa Links To References, Threatened Species, Vascular Plants (Plantae)